Archives

In which Don’t You Tell Me How I Feel tells you how they feel about 2010.
—-

BY V
2010 was a banner year in the indie world. We were blessed with offerings from the likes of the otherworldly Gonjasufi, we came to love the hideously-named-but-gorgeous chillwave movement, we watched girl groups place their undying Ronnie Spector love on display, and of course, we got another album from Montreal’s much-beloved Arcade Fire.

Without further ado, my superlatives:

TOP FIVE ALBUMS OF THE YEAR1. Beach House – Teen Dream
Though I would happily lose the last two tracks on this album, the first eight are utter perfection. Sad and sweet and somehow familar, this is undoubtedly the record that I continued to love madly throughout the year.

3. Gonjasufi – A Sufi and a Killer
I don’t know how to describe this record. It’s all over the place, with the unifying thread being Gonjasufi’s villainous pipes. It veers from the sweet music box tinkling of “Sheep” to the evil bassline of “Suzie Q.” Everything in between is riveting.

4. Frankie Rose and the Outs – Frankie Rose and the Outs
After stints with Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls (not to mention Crystal Stilts), Frankie Rose has finally nailed the girl group sound with the Outs. The harmonies are gorgeous, and the songs are spare and lean. No filler here — they’re just gettin it done, dammit.

5. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
Definitely the rock album of the year as far as I’m concerned. These Australian gents, fronted by a neo-Lennon, do psychedelia sans kitsch.

HONORABLE MENTIONSYeasayer – Odd Blood
This could have landed in the top 5 but was overall spottier than I’d like. However, “Love Me Girl” remains one of my favorite songs of 2010. I mean, did you hear a loon call sampled in anything else?

Caribou – Swim
This electronic situation gets better with every listen. Each song builds slowly and deliberately, and the vocals are subtle and muted.

FUNNIEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR
That would be Tim Fite’s Under the Table Tennis.

SHOWS OF THE YEAR
1. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at Prospect Park, Brooklyn
2. Jamie Lidell at Public Assembly, Brooklyn
3. Of Montreal at the Highline Ballroom, New York

ALBUM THAT I ACTUALLY TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT UNTIL RIGHT NOW
Sleigh Bells’ Treats. “Infinity Guitars” is still awesome. But I’m going to go ahead and say that this was a real flash in the pan. “Uh uh uh” choruses will only get you so far.

OTHER AWESOME SONGS OF 2010
1. “The Gaudy Side of Town” by Gayngs. Noir-y autotune. Nothing sounds like this.
2. “Slippin” by Quadron. Has all the trappings of an instaclassic.
3. “don’t !@*^@! tell me what to do” by Robyn. Need I say more?
4. “Superfast Jellyfish” by the Gorillaz. Dude, talk about an album that was slept on.

POP HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR
Gaga and Beyonce’s “Telephone.”

—-

BY STEELE

—-

The pop universe didn’t fare as well in 2010. Gaga titillated us. Taylor Swift and Justin Beaver made us feel cranky. Katy Perry and Taio Cruz horrified us all. But the year was far from a total loss. BEHOLD.

TOP 5 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

1. Beach House – Teen DreamRolling Stone described the vocals in this lush, gorgeous and moving album as “hazy and androgynous, like a stoned late-night heart-to-heart in which no one’s sure who is sleeping where.” If you listen to nothing else we say, please get this melancholy masterpiece.

2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
With big themes and a more polished sound, this powerful record is a slow-burner. But once it sinks in, you realize Arcade Fire is still one of the only bands making music that forces you to think about things like individual expression, morality and alienation in the modern world.

3. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Theatrical, crazy and bursting at the seams, it’s everything you didn’t even know you wanted from modern hip-hop. It reminds us why we liked Kanye in the first place. To quote the excellent, thumping “Power”: “At the end of the day, goddamn it, I’m killin’ this shit/ I know damn well y’all feelin’ this shit.”

4. Robyn – Body Talk
Like a pop superhero, Robyn swooped in ready to save America’s dance music scene this year – if only it had wanted saving. Body Talk is magnificent, sparkling with life and emotion. The clever “Fembot” will make you smile; the achingly beautiful “Dancing On My Own” might break your heart.

5. Eminem – RecoveryRecovery will be remembered as one of the great comebacks in pop history. Two crappy albums led many to think Em had lost his lyrical mastery and quickfire rapping skills, but Shady’s back, untethered from addiction and sounding sharper than he has in years. He wisely returns to the brutal self-examination that’s always been his strongest card: In the blazing “Talkin’ 2 Myself,” Em admits he was at one point so drug-addled and jealous of Lil Wayne’s success that he almost started a rap feud with him. “Thank God I didn’t do it,” he says. “I’d’a had my ass handed to me – and I knew it.”

AWESOME THINGS I SAW AT SHOWS IN 2010

1. Courtney Love, ranting and rambling and appearing well on her way back to the land of the unhinged. Like 1999 all over again!
2. Buddy Guy playing a smokin’ hourlong set before a Tom Petty show.
3. Danger Mouse, performing with Broken Bells. Guy is hot. Also, silent. My kind of man! KIDDING KIDDING.

WORST/AWESOMEST SONG OF THE YEAR

“Money Can’t Buy You Class” – Countess LuAnn, of Real Housewives of NYC “fame.” Safe to say the video is one of the best things that happened this year as well.

PEOPLE I HAD BEEF WITH IN 2010

1. Katy Goddamn Perry. Shut the fuck up. I’m serious.
2. Bruno Mars. He wrote Cee-Lo’s incredible “Fuck You,” so you’d think he’d be awesome. But his voice, his face and his stupid hats – oh, how they grate.
3. The people who keep putting Kardashians and MTV Teen Moms on the covers of trashy celeb magazines. These people are not celebs. Get out of the way so I can learn more about how Jen and Angelina feuded this week, because obviously they are still fighting over Brad 6 years later.

PERSON MUZZY HAD BEEF WITH IN 2010The guy in the Disaronno commercials who shows you how to mix cocktails. This guy enrages Muzzy more severely than anyone since the guy in the State Farm insurance commercials who walks around telling you how much you can save.

PERSON I SURPRISINGLY HAVE NO BEEF WITHKe$ha. I kind of dig the whole dirty, slutty shtick she’s got going on. Who would have thought?

That’s it! No more thoughts for the rest of the year. Hope we haven’t steered you astray.